600 Derek's Align Trex 600e Pro DFC

[Derek]

After having some time to think about this helicopter and the wiring setup and all that....I've simply decided to sell the helicopter and everything on it.

Ok, just kidding....sorry about that.

After having some time to think about the wiring and the way it is now, I'm going to change it back to the way it was and I'm going to order two 2S lipo packs to power the Ikon and the servos. I have a nasty habit of over thinking things and this was a clear demonstration of that. The CC BEC Pro is set for an output of 6.0v, so I will be all good there. I'm sorry that I keep dragging you all back and forth on this. I just wanna make sure that I'm doing it right without releasing the magic smoke.

So....that's what I've decided to do. It's the way that I want it. Lee....thanks again for your time. Although I am changing the wiring back to the way it was, talking with you helped me understand several things that I was confused about.

Ok....I'll get the wires re-run the way that I wanted them, set the "level" on the Ikon, set the governor in the Ikon, set the throttle end points in the esc, and then I think we'll be ready to hover.

 

[danhampson]

Derek dont enable the governor or the precomps it the ikon until you have the tail locked in. The governor can do strange things to the tail and you cant tell if its the tail gain or the gov gain.

 

[Derek]

ok, I didn't know that! Thanks Dan!!!

 

[pvolcko]

Looks good to me. I accidentally did my first 12S wiring job with the BEC across the whole 12S combined voltage. It works, but I should have done what you did here, only put it across the one pack supplying the negative to the system. Because of this and also in case I don't have a 6S pack handy at the bench, I put a small EC2 connector in between where the BEC connects into the main pack harness, so I can use a small 2S pack on the bench to power up the BEC and the electronics (no ESC or Motor).

Plug in the pack and the BEC will run and the electronics will light up. If you want to be able to use a 2S pack to do stuff on the bench, you can always make an adapter to go from your 2S pack's plug type to a EC5 end so you can plug right into this setup.

 

[danhampson]

i made that mistake when i first set up my brain on the protos it gave the tail a med soft wag and it took me ages to work out it was the gov gain.

 

[pvolcko]

And now I read that you are going back... ugh. Dude. Pick one and run with it! You had it wired fine based on the video. Plug it in, get it setup, and get it in the air!

 

[Derek]

And now I read that you are going back... ugh. Dude. Pick one and run with it! You had it wired fine based on the video. Plug it in, get it setup, and get it in the air!

"Pick one and run with it", he says!!! lmao. My wife told me the same thing, lol. You should see me when I'm cooking dinner. I change my mind way too much and I know this. It's a terrible curse that haunts me relentlessly.

That being said....I have picked a method and I'm done. I've already gotten the 600 setup so that I'm running an rx pack and the flight packs will be totally separate. This is the way the helicopter came to me.

After getting it all redone (again, lol), I removed the main and tail blades, turned on my DX8, plugged in the rx pack (the ikon and servos come to life), plugged in the flight packs and I was happy to hear the ESC initiaizing. I run the throttle up a bit and the motor begins to turn. Very cool! I ran the throttle up a bit more and I hear something that doesn't sound right....sounds like a bearing...either from the motor or from the two bearing blocks that the main shaft goes through.

I have to get ready for work now but the helicopter did take a breath of life. I'll investigate the sound that I heard on Friday when I'm not working. As a precaution, I did purchase new bearing blocks, a couple of weeks ago, so I have them here already. If the noise is from the motor, my LHS does have a new 600MX motor in stock.

Sorry to keep dragging you guys around.

 

[Derek]

Derek dont enable the governor or the precomps it the ikon until you have the tail locked in. The governor can do strange things to the tail and you cant tell if its the tail gain or the gov gain.

curious question....I have my throttle curve, currently, set for flat 30% in normal mode, 60% in Stunt 1, and 100% in stunt 2...I saw this in the Ikon "Governor" setup.

Now, you are saying not to enable the governor until the tail is locked in. That makes sense. So, I should probably change the throttle curve to:

Normal Mode: 0,35,75,75,75
Stunt 1: 85,85,85,85,85
Stunt 2: 100,100,100,100,100

Run those throttle curves until I get the tail set. Is that about right?

 

[danhampson]

Yes run normal non gov curves until you get you tail gain setup. Once the tail is good enable gov an change the T curves back to 30 60 100 respectively

 

[murankar]

Yes get the tail locked in first. Very important when you go to a gov.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forum Runner

 

[Derek]

Sounds good! Thanks guys!

 

[Lee]

Thats what I just did with the Gobby Derek.
did three flights with no gov, set everything up, dialled FBL settings.
Then when I was happy plugged in the Gov.
Cooking on gas now

 

[Derek]

Sounds good to me.

 

[Derek]

...and the "Question of the Day" is: Am I Ever Gonna Get This Helicopter Done?

I'm trying. I've been working on getting the blade pitch corrected......been working on it for the past couple of hours.

Here is what I have now....at mid stick (with a linear pitch curve), I have +7.4 On blade 1, I have +20.1 and -4.8. On blade 2, I have 20.2 and -4.8. That's awfully close!!!! Now, the way that I am thinking about this, if I can take the +7.4 degrees away from the positive pitch and add it to the negative pitch, I'll be spot on for +/- 12 degrees. How do I get there? Do I shorten or lengthen the cyclic linkages?

 

[Slobberdog]

yes Derek shorten the front two, cant be sure on the back one as cant see the mechanism for the elevator as its a funny one, and not had any experience with it,

 

[Derek]

well, if I shorten the front two...shouldn't I shorten the back one, too? That way the swash stays level.

but you are right...that elevator mechanism is a funny one. I don't much care for the design.

 

[Slobberdog]

yes you have to bring that mechanism down like the front two, its how you do that I cant help with, sorry mate, unless you can show pic of the page in the manual that the linkage is on.

 

[Derek]

I just looked through the online manual and there aren't any really good pictures of the mechanism. I'll just go short each linkage a few turns and see what the result is. Hopefully I'm getting closer. Setting the blade pitch is not my speciality nor is it my favorite thing to do. I know that I am so close to having this helicopter, finally, done and I just want to press on. Once the blade pitch is set, I just need to set the throttle end points on the ESC (if I remember how to do that) and double check the internal settings of the CC 80HV. Then I'll need to check the CG by adjusting the batteries on the battery tray and I believe that's it. I hope that's it, lol.

 

[Lee]

Derek.
I don't understand how it can be so far off.
If you followed the link lengths in the manual, it should be no more than a couple of turns off perfection?
But to be over 7º out is a huge difference.

 

[pvolcko]

If this one has the same elevator linkage that my 700 has, then you can not really adjust it. You basically do things in this order:

1) Set elevator linkage up so the servo horn to linkage rods are squared up and the linkage's horizontal section is in fact horizontal (there should be a window in the frame sides where you can see the horizontal part of the linkage. The vertical part of the linkage is fixed length.

2) Square up the horns on the other two servos. Adjust the swash connection links such that the swash is level. Swash leveling in this case is entirely mechanical. You cannot use subtrim. Subtrim should only be used to establish squared (90'd) servo horns. If you find you can't get things perfectly level on the swash, then and only then consider using some subtrim, but be aware that using it will cause you to lose square on the horns and so you will lose level as the swash moves to the MIN and MAX positions of collective throw. Depending on your FBL unit you may be able to correct this in setup, but likely not.

3) With swash level and stick at mid position (0 pitch) setup blade links to get 0 on the blade pitch.

4) Set MIN and MAX collective.

It sounds like you have swash level, so I would not screw with that anymore. You need to shorten your blade links to get it to 0 and mid stick, instead of +7. If you cannot shorten them enough... perhaps you have the wrong main shaft length? With a DFC your only options if you cannot get the blades to 0 at mid stick is to either lower the swash (not possible with a combined elevator control and anti-rotation linkage), shorten the blade links (not possible due to DFC link restrictions, or lengthen the main shaft.